The southern hospitality continues as our morning starts with fresh brewed coffee, sausage and eggs and fresh biscuits and jam. A great start before we are off to the races at Keenland Horse Track in Lexington. Laura chose the "old Frankfurt pike " road also known as one of the scenic Kentucky byways to travel down to Lexington. We were in thoroughbred country with expansive green neatly groomed pastures lining both sides of the road. Huge pristine barns with peaks and spires stood out on the landscape a short distance from the enormous country mansions. Miles and Miles's of paddock fencing divided the the rolling pasture land where horses could be seen leisurely grazing. The byway was narrow with trees providing a canopy over the road and many of the estates still had dry Masonry fences( previously called slave fences , which is no longer a politically correct term) lining the edge of their property. This slow winding scenic drive was beautiful and it was not difficult to imagine that at one time this historic trail was busy with horse and buggies and enclosed coaches of the rich horse owners.
The bugle sounds and the horses enter the track, horse riding groomsmen leading racehorse and jockey on a practiced warm up routine on the track. The bugle sounds again and the groomsmen leave the track and the horse and jockey take their place the gate. The gate opens and they are off, it is exciting and there is much cheering which gets progressively loader as the horse and riders make the last turn to the finish line. The last few yards ( or meters) of the race is intense as people wait to see who will be victorious. It is often close and needs what they call a photo finish to determine the winner. There are cameras at the finish line for when the race is to close to call and a photo can declare the winner.
Betting on the horses adds to the excitement and after some instructions from Laura we were right into it. Our bets were small but the fun and excitement was immense. Roger was not lucky and lost his whole $20.00, but I was able to win $14.00 , losing only $6.00. The day passed quickly and as the last race was about to start we made our way to the track and watch the horses trackside hearing the thundering of hooves on the dirt and feeling the breeze as the horses sped by. We stood by the finish line and cheered on our bet picks. A great end to the day at the races!
As we motored home we laughed and talked about our day and looked forward to a quiet evening. After a supper of homemade soup and hot sandwiches, we curled up in the sitting room by the fireplace and enjoyed each other's company.
Tomorrow we say goodbye to Laura and Kentucky and begin the last part of our journey south. We are traveling through the Appalachian mountains toward North Carolina and then down to South Carolina, Georgia and then Friday into Florida .
I had better charge up the camera for I am sure the trip through the mountains will have amazing views that will be calling for a picture.
Carol
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